Three days after two officials of Bandra's Rizvi College of Arts, Science and Commerce were caught by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs50,000 for admission of a student to the BMS course, the ACB is on a sticky wicket.
The agency is still pondering over whether the duo can be booked and arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), which holds good only for public servants.
According to ACB officials, although it's an aided institution, the BMS which is an unaided course and the staffers caught are believed to be public servants. Following a successful trap, the officials are in a fix as to under what law can the duo can be arrested.
Vishwas Nangre Patil, additional commissioner of ACB, said, "When we conducted our preliminary research, it was found that majority of the courses were aided and the principal is also a public servant. Under such circumstances, we believe that these staffers could also fall under the same category. Therefore, we went ahead with the trap."
The ACB has sought legal opinion as the college has contested that the staffers are not government servants and therefore cannot be arrested under PCA. MA Farooqui, principal said, "The staffers are not public servants. We are conducting an internal inquiry and if we are able to ascertain their role in this, we will approach the police."
ACB, on the other hand, believes that the duo can be booked under sections 2c (III) of PCA- any person in the service or pay of a corporation established by or under a central, provincial or State Act, or an authority or a body owned or controlled or aided by the government or a government company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956 and 2c (VIII) - any person, who holds an office by virtue of which he is authorised or required to perform any public duty - both of which defines a public servant.
"We have sent a 10-point questionnaire to our legal advisor and are in touch with the charity commissioner to seek suggestions. We believe the duo can be arrested by the ACB as both of them have been public servants in the past and the college is largely aided. The confusion should get sorted once we get a clear picture from the legal authorities," said another ACB officer.
The agency, if fails to prove the staffers as public servants, plans to approach the local police. "This is a clear open and shut case. However, if technically, we are not able to prove them as public servants, we will approach the police and request them to take action against the two under the Maharashtra Education Institutions' Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act," added Patil.
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